My current "driver" is a '75 Westfalia poptop. Some PO decided it would be cool to paint it in truck bed liner, probably to hide a million sins of rust and body work. Then the last PO decided it would be better to strip it off. He stripped about 2 square feet of it off before he decided that that was too much work. I have rolled with it this way. Painted it blue, and put aggressive looking tires (proper size and rating) on it to complete the rugged look. Solid engine and transmission. Runs well, and stops well, although the brakes do need to be gone over.
The "next in line" bus is a '79 deluxe. This one is in good condition to roll, once I get the engine back into it. The engine is out, but has a recent top-end rebuild done (by me, so we'll see how I did later). Should give me some good service before I have to get after it again. Transmission is solid as well. The bus has a sunroof, BA6 heater, and air conditioning... none of which work. But it is in pretty good shape, and has original Orange and creme (white?) paint and the cool striping. My plan for this is to keep as much of the original paint as I can and slowly work on all the goodies. My 7-year old has already informed that that this is "his bus" for when he learns to drive some day. I would love to be able to make that happen for him.
Two of my other busses are on the list for work after the '79. There is a '76 automatic Westfalia Deluxe (my wife says she would drive an auto). The body is in much better shape than the '75, Westfalia, and it may end up replacing the '75 (and getting the "good" engine and transmission combo) in the next few years. It has no engine, and the transmission is unknown, so there is a lot of work ahead before that were to happen. There is also a '68 Single Cab pickup that is very rusty. It is complete, and was just too cool to pass up though. I definitely want to fix this (eventually), but it's not going to happen any time soon.
The rest are either parts busses, or busses to flip. I have a '79 bus I picked up cheap last summer. It is original paint, and generally unmolested. Body is pretty good by Michigan standards, but needs some work. It also need most of the window seals changed out. This bus will be prepped for sale once I get it running and stopping safely (next year?). There is a second '76 automatic Westfalia that may be a parts bus, or may eventually get fixed. There is a '78 Westfalia (no motor or trans atm) that is almost certainly destined to be a parts bus. And there is a '74 Westfalia shell that I am not sure what I will ever do with.
So you see, more busses than sense it appears. My wife has been understanding most of the time. I think she has developed an addiction to blue/green '75 Westfalia plaid as she has started buying clothes in that color scheme. The goal this year is to maintain the '75, and get the '79 Deluxe running. The rest have to wait there turn.
I've enjoyed Colin's wisdom and drawings in other forums, and like what I have seen here so far. Hopefully I can get some info here, and maybe help a little too eventually.
DJ (not that DJ) Roberts
